According to Azis, Kitingan was spotted in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 13 despite his quarantine beginning on Nov 12.
Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (Warisan-Sepanggar) today questioned Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah over the “flip-flops” on Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) for members of parliament.
He said this regarding the quarantine status of Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan (Perikatan Nasional-Keningau) which came into question in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun this morning told Kitingan to temporarily leave the Dewan Rakyat until an explanation on his quarantine status could be determined.
Azhar had said he was told that Kitingan had started his quarantine on Nov 12 and received his release order from the Health Ministry on Monday (Nov 23).
Azis pointed out that MPs attending the parliamentary proceedings were asked to observe a 14-day quarantine period if they had traveled to Sabah following advice by the Health Ministry and the National Security Council.
Due to that ruling, Azis said he had to skip a family member’s funeral in Semporna recently.
“The right person for us to ask is the Health Ministry D-G. Why was this policy suddenly changed?
“Are Government MPs immune from Covid-19?”
“Covid-19 doesn’t take into account whether the MP is with the government or the Opposition.
“Covid-19 doesn’t care whether the MP supported the prime minister or any parties,” he said during a press conference in parliament today.
According to Azis, Kitingan was spotted in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 13 despite his quarantine beginning on Nov 12.
“Even if he begins self-quarantine from Nov 12, it would have only been 12 days (up until today).
“That did not fulfil the 14-day requirement for MPs returning from Sabah to attend Parliament,” he said.
At the same time, Azis noted that Azhar asked for more time to check with the health authorities over the matter and said opposition MPs were still waiting for explanations.
“We are also hoping that this will be explained by the Health Ministry D-G later. We don’t want the double standards of rules on MPs,” he said.
Azis said that the recent emergency declaration in Batu Sapi was a clear sign that Covid-19 cases were still serious in Sabah.
“By allowing the Keningau MP to be present in Parliament…it defeats the purpose.”